Category: World

21st February 2019 Travel, World By AFP Singapore Airlines insisted Thursday that cameras on its planes’ entertainment systems had been disabled after an outcry online from worried passengers who spotted the tiny lenses peering at them. Travellers took to Twitter and other social media to raise the alarm over the cameras at the bottom of seat-back screens on a number of the Singapore flag carrier’s newer aircraft. “Just found this interesting sensor looking at me from the seat back on board of Singapore Airlines. Any expert opinion of whether is…

20th February 2019 World By Associated Press A German court has ruled that a dog owner isn’t fit to carry a firearms licence after his dog shot him with a rifle. The Munich administrative court on Tuesday dismissed the man’s appeal against an earlier decision by Bavarian authorities to withdraw his licence to own a rifle, as well as his hunting permit. The decision followed a 2016 incident in which the man, a passionate hunter, was shot in the arm after his dog managed to release the trigger on a…

20th February 2019 World By Associated Press Russian lawmakers have approved a bill prohibiting military personnel from using smartphones on duty, a move intended to stop sensitive information from appearing on social media. The bill approved by the lower house on Tuesday also forbids servicemen to post photos, videos and information about themselves, other soldiers and their relatives on the internet. The new legislation formalises restrictions on using smartphones and tablets earlier ordered by the Defence Ministry. The move follows the publication of open source stories about the fighting in…

By Associated Press MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin sternly warned the United States against deploying new missiles in Europe, saying Wednesday that Russia will retaliate by fielding new weapons that will take just as little time to reach their targets. While the Russian leader didn’t say what specific new weapons Moscow could deploy, his statement further raised the ante in tense relations with Washington. Speaking in his state-of-the-nation address, Putin charged that the U.S. has abandoned a key arms control pact to free up its hands to build new missiles…

By AFP Three MPs quit the governing Conservative Party over Brexit on Wednesday, joining a mounting rebellion in parliament this week against the two major parties that is shaking the system in British politics. Anna Soubry, Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston said they planned to sit in parliament alongside eight former Labour MPs who, also citing their opposition to Brexit, have resigned from the main opposition party since Monday to form the new Independent Group. The trio of Conservatives, who support Britain remaining in the European Union, said in a…

By BBC A coalition of 16 US states led by California is suing President Donald Trump’s administration over his decision to declare an emergency to raise funds for a Mexican border wall. Trump made the declaration on Friday to bypass Congress after it refused to approve $5.7bn (£4.4bn) for the wall. The states say they want to block his “misuse of presidential power”. The Democrats oppose funding Trump’s barrier, a key campaign pledge, and have vowed to contest his plan. The president’s announcement came after he signed a spending bill…

By Associated Press Catholic religious orders from around the world apologized Tuesday for having failed to respond when their priests raped children, acknowledging that their family-like communities blinded them to sexual abuse and led to misplaced loyalties, denial and cover-ups. The two umbrella organizations representing the world’s religious orders issued a joint statement ahead of Pope Francis’ sex abuse prevention summit, which opens Thursday. They vowed to implement accountability measures going forward to ensure that cover-ups by religious superiors end and that children are always safe in the presence of…

By BBC Opposition protesters have returned to the streets of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, as the government vows to deepen the investigation into allegations of corruption and implement economic measures. Demonstrators burnt tyres and set up barricades in some streets on Sunday. At least seven people have been killed in the country since the protests began earlier this month. Protesters are angry at soaring inflation and demand an independent investigation over claims that officials and former ministers misappropriated development funds from an oil deal signed between Caribbean countries and Venezuela,…

By AFP Saudi Arabia on Saturday defended a mobile app that allows men in the kingdom to track female relatives after rights groups and a US lawmaker criticised tech giants for offering it. The Absher app provides services for “all members of the society… including women, the elderly, and people with special needs”, the interior ministry said. The free app is available on Android and Apple smartphones and allows users to renew passports, visas and eases a variety of other electronic services. But critics have said the app enables abuse…

By Associated Press LONDON: It’s said that history often repeats itself — the first time as tragedy, the second as farce. Many Britons feel they are living through both at the same time as their country navigates its way out of the European Union. The British government awarded a contract to ship in emergency supplies to a company with no ships. It pledged to replace citizens’ burgundy European passports with proudly British blue ones — and gave the contract to a Franco-Dutch company. It promised to forge trade deals with…